


The care and feeding of team members

by Flexor



Series: The Caffeine Files [5]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Hurt/Comfort
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-11
Updated: 2017-02-11
Packaged: 2018-09-23 12:36:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,923
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9657758
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Flexor/pseuds/Flexor
Summary: The Battle of Beacon was not without its losses. Hunters. Military. Civilians. When Yatsuhashi Daichi hears that a close friend has died, he needs the support of all of his team members, each in their own way.We haven't seen Team CFVY in Volume 4 at all! For shame! This series will follow them through the times that Team RWBY are pulling themselves together. Beacon Academy will rise again!





	

It was the night after the Battle of Beacon. Yatsuhashi Daichi, heavy infantry of Team CFVY, was sitting on a sleeping mat in a re-purposed office building in the safe zone of Vale City. The meeting room was just large enough for the whole of his team. The lights were off, but the door was open. People walked by in the hallway, maybe glanced inside, then moved on.

In his large hand was his scroll, and on the scroll was a picture of a young woman, smiling at him. It was the first picture of herself she'd sent him, wearing nearly nothing, an invitation to a breathless few days of unbridled, enthusiastic, no-holds-barred sex. He had zoomed it in so that only her face showed. Yatsuhashi was sitting absolutely still, his face impassive, a stone mask. His large sword lay square in front of him, at a precise distance from his knees. He blinked slowly, concentrated on his breathing. Made his mind empty of all things. In the gloom of the night, Yatsuhashi Daichi, warrior of Team CFVY, sat and waited. 

 

Velvet Scarlatina came walking in, turned on the lights, closed the door. A kind neighbor had allowed her to use his washing machine and her clothes were clean again. She walked over to her mat, pulled off her dirty jumper, and only then looked round.

"Oh. Hi Yatsu."

She pulled off her pants, put her dirty clothes in a plastic bag, and put on fresh clothes. She turned to her friend and protector. The smile died on her lips. Yatsu was a very difficult person to read, but something was wrong. She walked over to him, looked at the picture on his scroll.

"Marron," said Velvet.

Yatsuhashi looked up at her, said nothing. Marron was from Mistral. She'd been over on an exchange trip. She'd taken a liking to Yatsuhashi, and turned out to be a really nice girl.

"Is she okay?"

Yatsuhashi shook his head, silently.

Velvet swallowed. "Is she _going_ to be okay?" Her voice was very quiet.

Yatsuhashi closed his eyes.

"No."

"Oh Yatsu..."

Velvet sat down in Yatsuhashi's lap, wrapped her arms round his neck, gave him all the warmth her slender body could give him. She put her hand on his wire-brush short hair, pressed her cheek against his.

"My heart has joined the Thousand," she whispered. "For my friend stopped running today."

Velvet was a Rabbit Faunus, easily recognisable by the long ears on her head. Rabbits are prey animals. The Brother of Creation, named Frith in the ancient langage of Lapin, had made them to be fruitful and multiply. The nameless Brother of Destruction created _U Hrair_ , the Thousand _Elil_ or Enemies for them, to kill them, and to eat them. As long as they could hear, and see, and warn each other, and run, rabbits were safe. To stop running was to die.

Slow heavy tears finally ran down Yatsuhashi's cheeks. He put his hands on Velvet's back, pressed her to him. Velvet gently stroked his hair.

"She's gone," said Yatsuhashi, in a dull voice. 

 

Yatsuhashi had finally fallen asleep. Velvet sat next to him, watching over him, when the door opened and Fox Alistair walked in. In one fluid movement, Velvet got to her feet and walked over to Fox.

"Hey Bunny Girl," said Fox.

"Shh," said Velvet, looking over her shoulder. "He's just sleeping."

Fox had lost his sight at a young age, and spent most of his life compensating for the loss with other senses. He could hear the pain in Velvet's voice as clear as day.

"What's wrong?" he whispered.

"Marron," said Velvet. "She didn't make it."

" _Ow_ ," said Fox. That seemed to cover it.

"Velvet?" Yatsuhashi stirred.

"I'm here Yatsu," said Velvet. "I'm not going anywhere."

Fox heard her walk back to Yatsu's side, sit down, take his hand.

"I'll get you something from the kitchen," he said. Fox turned round and left. 

* * *

 

Coco Adel walked back to her team's assigned crash space. it was a small meeting room close to the coffee machine. Coco had actually drunk so-called coffee from that machine. Desperate times indeed. She found Fox sitting with his back against the door.

"Hi Boss," said Fox, recognising Coco's footsteps.

"Hey Alistair," said Coco. "What are you doing outside? Been staring at Velvet's butt again?"

Fox got to his feet. "Don't go in. Big Guy just heard that one of his friends died."

Coco took a breath. "Who?"

"Marron."

"Oh _no_! Poor girl."

Coco reached for the door handle, but Fox grabbed her arm.

"Don't go in. Velvet's on it."

Coco frowned, pulled her arm away. She tried to push Fox out of the way, but he stood his ground.

"Am I speaking Lapin or something? Don't go in."

"Fox, Yatsu is hurting. He needs me."

"No he doesn't. You're the _last_ person he needs right now."

"He needs to know I'm there for him. I need to talk to him."

Fox sneered. "Yeah. You do that, and he'll say he's fine, and clam up. And then, he'll have this eating away at him forever. He's not going to open up to _you_ , Boss."

"I'll see about that," said Coco.

She reached out for the door handle again, but this time, Fox grabbed her, one hand on her wrist, the other on her collar, holding her beaded necklace in his fist. Coco's strength semblance made her stronger than Fox. Whether she could beat him in a fight was uncertain, because Fox fought _dirty_. Still, if she'd punch him in the face, he'd go flying. But that would mean that he'd send all the beads on her necklace flying through the room. It wasn't the most expensive thing Coco had ever worn, but it had been a present from one of the few real friends she'd had in her modeling career. As such, it was irreplaceable. Fox knew that. And he knew that Coco knew. Coco scowled.

"Let go of me. _Now_."

"First, you promise not to go in there."

Coco's eyes narrowed behind her sunglasses. "Fine."

Fox let go of Coco. "Coffee? It's free."

"And worth every penny," said Coco. "Heel, Fox."

They walked out to the lobby, saying nothing. Someone had claimed one of the sofas by draping a coat over it. Coco dropped it on the floor and sat down. Fox sat down next to her.

"You got ten seconds to explain why I can't go in and comfort my teammate."

"You're the boss," said Fox. "He doesn't want to fail you."

"How exactly has he failed me?"

"What's Yatsu's main thing?"

Coco thought a moment. "Strength," she said. "He's the rock in the fast flowing river. Nothing moves him. What's that got to do with it?"

"Tell me. What were you going to do in there?"

"What do you _think_? Tell him I'm sorry for his loss. Give him a big hug. Give him a shoulder to cry on."

"Wrong shoulder," said Fox. "He doesn't want to cry on _your_ shoulder because you're relying on him."

"Really? What gives him the idea that I think any less of him because he has feelings?"

Fox took a slow deep breath. "It's how he sees himself. Yatsuhashi Daichi is peace of mind for others. He's the one you can rely on when all else has gone to shit. It's his job, and it's his..." Fox thought a moment. "It's his _self_. Going to pieces is something that other people do. He _can't_ go to pieces in front of you. Remember what he was like after your last bout in the tournament?"

"That's a load of macho bullshit Fox, and you know it. Men are allowed to have feelings, and _show_ them."

"It's not _bullshit_ , it's our _honour_! It's what we spend our lives building up." Fox scowled. "Also, from what I've seen, when men do show their feelings, women tend not to like it, 'cause it's not what they expect. We do vent, Boss. Just not to you, and not in your way."

"He's got no problem showing his feelings to Velvet."

"She's special."

"How?"

"She's closer to Yatsu than anyone else, even his mum. Closer than me, closer than you. She understands him better than us both."

Coco looked at Fox, then down at her hands in her lap. "I just want him to know I'm there for him. If he wants to go to pieces for a bit, he can. It changes nothing."

"He _doesn't_ want to go to pieces in front of you, Boss. I mean this. Leave him his pride. It's important to him."

"So what do you want me to do? Just ignore it?"

"First, you leave Yatsu and Velvet alone for a while. Next time you see him, just tell him you know. Even if you don't tell him, he'll know because whatever you think, we boys _can_ read people. And then you get on the scroll with Liz in Dispatch and get us all a nice heavy patrol. Gods know there's a lot of pest control left to do. And when we get back, I'll take him to the most rat-filled boozer I can think of and get him roaring drunk." Fox grinned to himself. "Haven't cleared out a bar for a while. Gonna be fun." Fox put his hand on Coco's shoulder. "And then, you give him the chewing out of a lifetime. And then we feel better."

Coco stared for a moment.

"You men are a bunch of knuckle dragging troglodytes."

Fox laughed. "We're hunters. Blood thirsty warriors, born to kill. We're carnivorous bastards." The smile slowly drained from his face. "And a storm's coming. We're gonna be needed."

"What, and we're not?"

Fox turned to Coco. "We're gonna need _everybody_. Men. Women. Humans. Faunus. Vale. Atlas. Vacuo. Mistral. All the lands in between, and the people there, who hear the storm and the thunder and shake their fists and shout, _We are here! Come and have a go if you think you're hard enough!_ We need them all, and even then we could still lose. We need our anger. We need our strength. We can't afford to let up, even for a moment."

Coco leaned back, and said nothing for a few moments. "You're wrong. We need our compassion as well. We need to feel like humans... people. Otherwise, what are we fighting for?"

Fox reached out, put his arm round Coco's shoulders, pulled her closer. "You and me, we're going to be in the thick of it. Chances are, none of us are going to see the end of this. That's what we signed up for. I don't mind. As long as _someone_ will."

They sat like that for a few minutes, quietly, thinking of the future, however short it might be. Finally, Coco stirred, reached out, turned Fox' face towards her and kissed him on his cheek. She got up.

"What are you going to do Boss?"

Coco looked at him. "Scrolls are down. I'm going to find Liz and ask her if she's got any missions going spare. She's not gonna like sending school kids out though. May have to eat her out to get any. Bottles of perfume won't cut it."

Fox chuckled. "The things you do for your team, Adel. Your sacrifice won't be forgotten."

"Just so you know," said Coco, "I'm _still_ going to give Yatsu the biggest hug when I see him." She turned round, looked over her shoulder. "Oh and Fox..."

"Yeah?"

"Try not to get arrested." 


End file.
